Webbcrafts

When I was young

My grandma, Rebecca Haynes, taught me so much, and yet she died when I was very young.

My memories are vague but powerful, and some are tangible in that I have beautifully worked dressing table mats, their stitches fragile, but the crochet pattern still intact and hiding in tissue paper against the light. When I hold them I am touching her and all that she taught me.

The Great Depression

Rebecca lived through the great depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s, and then the war years when it wasn’t easy to be a woman, and through it all she wielded her crochet hook.

It didn’t mean anything to her that:

• Modern tampons have been around since the 1930s.

she had to find another way.

Nothing special used during Menstruation

It is generally believed that working class women from 1700 – 1900 didn’t bother with any menstrual protection, merely bleeding into their clothes, in which case my grandmother had learned to be different. Her lifestyle would, however, have been called ‘working class’ as she was married to a milkman.

• The average woman uses 11,000-17,000 tampons in a lifetime. (Think of the monetary value!)
  

Grandma didn’t know what a tampon was, and had she known she would have been very suspicious of their use. She crocheted her way through menstruation, and when she didn’t need protection for herself she taught others. Sadly my own mother never learned to crochet.

Available materials

Belts were made from a soft silky material (rayon, silk?), although she may have used linen in earlier years, from which to attach a pad with loops. The pads were filled with whatever material was available, it was believed that she used crushed sphagnum moss, but not sawdust. Perhaps it wasn’t available to her, I will never know.

What a waste of time!

It is now considered a waste of time to make menstrual protection as there are so many different kinds available, they all however contain the many chemicals that would be better not to introduce into such a delicate part of the body. (Some Facts)

A Disposable Life

A whole industry has been built around producing tampons and pads which can be thrown away, but what if, like in my Grandma’s day these products became scarce or unaffordable?

The mother of invention

I too have no need of menstrual protection since many years past, however I was asked to devise a way to apply medication to this very area, without contributing to chemical overload. I thought of tampons and researched some that were made with unbleached cotton which cost £5.00 each. Probably a reasonable cost for something imported, but making them for yourself would be so much more cost effective.

A simple pattern

Other crafters have worked on this problem and produced functional tampons and pads, but there is always room for improvement, (and cost) and in this case simplification. Grandma would be proud!

These are basically a chain with single crochet rows which can be rolled to form the filling. The tail is secured within a tiny eye which holds the bulk of the tampon beneath a small hood.

They are made using an unbleached cotton yarn which proved easier to insert than a softer bamboo yarn.

After use they can be opened out, rinsed in cold water and soaked in a solution of water and white vinegar or sodium bicarb. or tea tree oil, or even colloidal silver. Any bacteria removing agent that doesn’t contain chlorine bleach.

One thing leads to another

The same arguments apply to incontinence pads, and the need for an older person to be secure in the face of a very nasty cough. This is my pattern for those occasions :

The pad itself is unbleached cotton, but for the inserts I used soft bamboo yarn. Very absorbent and gentle on delicate parts. The pad can have as many inserts as needed  i.e. one on top of another. I tested this on myself and it is very comfortable.

I secured the triangle wings with a button, but you could use a pop stud, which means that it doesn’t move around in snug pants.

If you don’t crochet

If you don’t crochet but want to try something different that is made just for you, then I can customise your menstrual protection if you get in touch with your needs. (my email address)

Difficult times

Even in difficult times women are able to retain pride in their unique bodily functions by becoming self sufficient. It is true that we, as half of the human race, have been taught to believe that our biological functions should never be openly discussed, and mass production is better left to men.

We women know better!